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How much house can you afford, i.e., what is your definition of 'affordable housing'?

In what part of STL will you be working?

Excellent suburban school districts (not the whole list): Parkway, Rockwood, Pattonville, Lindbergh, Webster Groves. I must add a caveat: I'm not including Clayton, Ladue or Kirkwood because IMHO, there is no 'affordable housing' in those school districts. As a matter of fact, 'affordable housing' is most likely an oxymoron in the Rockwood school district which includes the municipalities of Chesterfield and Wildwood.

If you're coming from an area like DC, NYC or LA, traffic and commuting in the STL area is a breeze. "Not too bad traffic" is extremely subjective. Where are you coming from?

You really can't get a good school district without paying the pretty penny. You have "good" affordable suburban areas like Hazelwood, Bridgeton, but with O.K. school districts. However, the better schools are in more wealthy areas *note that the quality of shoppin areas go up in West County with the houses/school districts* so it really depends. Creve Couer is probaly one of the more affordable places in WEST County. YOu gonna live in a house or apartment?

Maybe I should be more specific, I currently live in a nice suburb close to Memphis, TN and also work there as a data analyst.

I am thinking of moving to St. Louis and find a similar job in a big company (fortune 500).

The place where I live has property tax of $1.3 per 100
commute time about 15 min (9 miles)
high school ranks #1128 in recent usnews rankings
housing around 300k for a 3000 sq ft single family house
no state income tax

I wish the place I am going to move to have a IKEA and outlets (prime outlets, premium outlets)

Maybe I should be more specific, I currently live in a nice suburb close to Memphis, TN and also work there as a data analyst.

I am thinking of moving to St. Louis and find a similar job in a big company (fortune 500).

The place where I live has property tax of $1.3 per 100
commute time about 15 min (9 miles)
high school ranks #1128 in recent usnews rankings
housing around 300k for a 3000 sq ft single family house
no state income tax

I wish the place I am going to move to have a IKEA and outlets (prime outlets, premium outlets)

Again thanks for your help in my searching!

I think you will have plenty of options. Ballwin, Manchester area would be in the price range and you would be in Parkway schools, which are good. Kirkwood would probably be an option, but it is an older community with older, somewhat pricey homes. Sunset Hills/Crestwood would work too, as someone else pointed out. I believe the Lindbergh school district is considered pretty good these days. Farther south, Oakville. Farther southwest in Fenton/Eureka you would be in Rockwood School district, which is good.

Things will really depend on where you're working. The larger companies are scattered all over the St Louis Metro area. There's a lot downtown and in Clayton, but you also have to consider that there's places like Mastercard, with technology headquarters 30 miles from downtown in O'Fallon MO. There's a lot located along highway 270. Commute time and where you'll want to live will depend on where you work. Most people consider West County or St Charles County to be the best places to live. Chances are you'll have a commute longer than 15 minutes if you're working downtown, but if your job is in the suburbs, you could probably keep a similar commute time and afford a large house.

Also as a heads up...there's not an IKEA in St Louis, and the nearest Premium Outlet is in Lake of the Ozarks. There's St Louis Mills, but it's not quite as nice as some of the Prime Outlets I've been to.

Look east to Edwardsville or Glen Carbon. For schools you will want Edwardsville housing options are the best in the region. You will find property taxes are higher in on the Illinois side of the river. The higher taxes provide better roads and infrastructure. Shopping is all there and some of the best restaurants in the region.

agreed, I live in Ofallon,IL. Fairview hts, and parts of belleville are very nice. As the above poster said, edwardsville is a really nice town too,plus its like 15-20 to get downtown. It's also alot cheaper to get a nice house in ofallon/edwardsville, belleville, than in st. louis county.

It depends on where you are working and how much of the "city life" you want in mixed with some quiet in addition to a good school district. I lived in Maplewood and LOVED it (I lived in 3 different neighborhoods)! Good school district and not too expensive at all. You can walk or ride your bike to Forest Park and have access to great restaurants, shops, coffee, grocery stores, and brewery on Manchester Road and on Clayton Road. I lived 1 minute away from I-64 (people from St. Louis call it Hwy 40) and about 5m from I-44 so I could easily jump on either and get out to west county. I personally wouldn't live in west county areas unless you want to spend a lot of time in the car. Where I lived it was technically the county but right across the street was the city line. I never had a problem with crime and I have friends that have small children in the area. There is one sketch part to avoid in Maplewood/Manchester area but it's very small and you'll recognize it. St. Louis is a great city! Especially if you choose the right area to live in!

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